—Karam! —He was lying on the ground, with blood around him. A young woman, by his side, was trying to wake him. But who attacked him? I looked around me. A kind of living mass, with quite a few eyes, was looking at me. It was about 2 meters tall and 3 meters wide —Huh?
That "thing" tried to attack me, extending one of its arms to hit me. By instinct, I managed to dodge it just in time, causing its arm to crash into the wall, breaking it. Let's just hope there was no one there.
—Afakashi... —I heard the "thing" whisper. —Afakashi nora gamu...
—Huh? What is this guy saying now? —I said to myself. Suddenly, the thing started to get bigger, inflating, while repeating the same thing. This time he looked at me seriously, with his 33 eyes (yes, I counted them, any problem?) from above, and opened his mouth, huge, with many sharp teeth. I froze, watching him. No way I could dodge that.
But suddenly, the "thing" writhed in pain. I stopped looking up and directed my gaze towards the ground. Karam had woken up and hit him in the stomach. Of course, with double the damage that the monster had inflicted on him earlier, that "thing" should be suffering now. Heh.
The "thing" collapsed on the ground, fainted. My brother saw me and ran towards me.
—Karma! Are you okay? —he said, with blood on his forehead. Had he become dumber than he was with that blow to the head?
—... Don't talk. Here. —I took a handkerchief out of the pocket of my skirt (I always put handkerchiefs in my pockets, and yes, sometimes skirts have pockets) and handed it to her —Wipe your face. And the woman from before?
—I told her to run away and call someone for help, —he said, while cleaning himself up— Hey, do you know what the hell that is... that? —he was referring to "thing."
—No idea. You're supposed to know more about this kind of stuff than I do. But he could easily be a criminal whose power is to turn into... Well, let's call it "thing." I liked the name. — Although, deep down, I didn't believe it. He had said something strange before. Afakashi... And I don't know what else.
—... Anyway. Let's wait for help to arrive. — We sat there, watching "the thing" so it wouldn't wake up. Meanwhile, I thought about the boy I had seen earlier.
Don't call me "a teen in love". It's just that it really piques my curiosity. I could swear I've seen him before. As I mentioned before, a wave of familiarity washed over me when I saw him. But, however, I don't know him at all. Argh, but what's wrong with me? I shouldn't overthink the matter. At this rate, a stranger is going to end up eating away at my brain. I shook my head and started thinking about other things, like fictional scenarios of my favorite characters.
Neither my brother nor I knew it, but back then a presence was watching us from the roof while drinking a can of beer. He smiled, turned around, and left the place, saying my name.
In the end, the cops came and took "thing" away. Karam insisted on visiting Joan, but, as always, I had to drag him home. Not because I didn't want to see him, but I was covered in blood up to my feet, and we couldn't go visit him like that. He would scare the customers.
It had already been 1 week since that incident. A few days earlier, I contacted Sant Gabriel. But all they said was "Hmph," and hung up. They didn't say anything else, nor did they respond to my messages or calls. Bastards!
Yesterday, my uniform arrived. It was a red jersey, very fine, with a white shirt, and a red skirt. They also came with long socks and black shoes, along with the gym uniform, in the same color palette. For being a bunch of jerks, they sure knew my tastes, huh...? I packed everything into my suitcase, also full of priorities. Since it was far from where I live, I had to live on a campus within the school.
I had just gotten out of the shower, and I was only wearing my underwear and a white blouse. I was lying on my queen-sized bed with white sheets, staring at the ceiling, holding the school letter. I lifted it and looked at it. I hadn't "awakened." I didn't have those weird powers, nor did I want to have them.
—Why me...? Of the 8 billion people living on this damn planet, it had to be me. —I whispered, lowering my arm. I finished getting dressed, and thank goodness I did, because shortly after, my little sister came in to bother me.
Karima was only 9 years old, and she had light brown hair tied in pigtails. She had fair skin, inherited from my mother, and freckles all over her face. He looked at me with his green eyes and smiled, showing me his teeth, one of them missing.
—Karmiiiii! Look! —she came closer to me, sitting on the bed, after adjusting herself—Buggi has something to tell you! — Buggi was my sister's favorite stuffed animal, a little bunny with pink skin, a yellow belly, and button-like black eyes. She took it out and placed it in my lap.
—Oh ho! And what does Buggi want to tell me? —I said, playing along.
—Buggi is going to miss you. —she said, in a deep voice, as she imagined the stuffed animal, while covering her mouth to seem like it wasn't her talking, but the rabbit. —One day, Kari will wake up too, and she will be... a hero! Just like you!
—Awww... —I patted her head. I don't understand why she was looking at me like that.She already has his brother as awakened. —You know what? Here, for you and for Baggi. —I headed to my desk and opened a drawer, where I had several chocolate bars stored. I grabbed two and threw them to Karima. She was delighted and ran out of the room, excited, to eat them. I smiled.
—Mom! Dad! —I called out to my parents, about to leave for the station. It was very early, so they were probably still asleep. I went to their room to check. And yes, indeed, just as I said. I limited myself to entering silently and giving them a kiss on the forehead before leaving. I did the same with Karima, covering her with the blanket, which was exposed.
Then, I headed to the entrance, opening the door and stepping out. Yesterday, someone from Sant Gabriel came to pick up the bags, so I was light, with just a small backpack on my back.
As soon as I stepped out, I found my brother waiting for me. He was wearing his uniform since he was heading to his university.
—Ready? —he asked, turning to me.
—What do you think? I wouldn't go out without being prepared. Fool. —I replied, passing by him, and walking. We spent the whole trip chatting. Well, more than chatting, Karam was giving me advice and orders that I had to follow at Sant Gabriel.
Don't go near the alcohol section in the stores, the teachers are keeping an eye on it. No boys in the room. Remember to train every day, or at least almost every day. No boys in the room. You'll be sharing an apartment with 4 other people, take care of your belongings. No boys in the room. Many theory teachers assign a lot of homework, and they will penalize you if you don't do it all. No boys in the room. No boys in the room.
I think he was trying to tell me not to have boys in the room. Weird.
In the end, we arrived at the subway station. I saw quite a few young people my age, so I assumed they were also from Sant Gabriel. I looked at the clock above. There were 7 minutes left until the train arrived, that is, at 8 o'clock sharp.
—I'm already leaving, Karma. —Karam said to me, placing a hand on my head. —Remember...
—No boys in the room? Don't worry, that's the one I know best. —he smiled at me gently
—Take care. And try to be happy. —he ruffled my hair a bit before turning around and leaving. My eyes remained fixed on his silhouette as he walked away. Now I was going to be alone. I wouldn't be going back home until probably Christmas break.
I waited a bit, submissive in my thoughts, until the train arrived. People started to board, but I decided to be one of the last, so as not to be in the midst of the crowd. In the end, I was the only one left, and I decided to go in.
The doors were about to close, until...
—Wait! —I heard a female voice behind me. I turned around and saw three people running to catch the train. I put my leg in the way so the doors wouldn't close, and the three of them got in, panting, tired from the run they had to make to arrive on time.